


Coal

by ChokolatteJedi



Category: White Collar
Genre: Advent Challenge 2015, Gen, Holidays, Office Party, Secret Santa, Teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-19
Updated: 2015-12-19
Packaged: 2018-05-11 12:30:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5626738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChokolatteJedi/pseuds/ChokolatteJedi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The office plays Secret Santa</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coal

**Author's Note:**

> For the advent prompt "Coal"

"Merry Christmas, Caffrey!" Diana declared cheerfully.

Neal accepted his present warily - Diana appeared far too cheerful about being his Secret Santa. The bag was small, and fairly light, and Neal debated trying to guess the contents. However, he knew Diana would have made it purposely deceptive, so he didn't bother.

Pulling out the tissue paper, he found a small black sack labeled _Bag of COAL_. "Nice," he smirked at Diana.

"It's gum!" she burst out.

"Gum?" Neal examined the sack closer, and saw that it closed with a little red drawstring. He pulled it open and found small black chunks of 'coal.' "Gum?" he repeated.

"Gum!" Diana and the others laughed.

Neal wasn't much of a gum person, but he decided that if the joke was on him, he was going to enjoy it. Tossing a few of the coal lumps in his mouth, he chewed them quickly and then blew a bubble.

When it popped, the others laughed again, and Neal smiled broadly. To his surprise, this prompted even greater laughter. Diana, between gasps, managed to pull a compact out of her desk. Neal took it and looked.

To his horror, Neal found that the gum had dyed his teeth and tongue a black-purple. "Did you know it would do this?" he demanded.

Diana shook her head, but Neal couldn't tell if she was telling the truth. Either way, the damage was done, so he just smiled more broadly and went with it. “Coal?” he offered, holding out the bag. To his surprise, Diana took some, as did Blake and several of the other interns. A few moments later they were all smiling purplely at each other and being teased by the others.

And even though he was still being made fun of by Jones and Peter, for once, Neal didn’t feel like an outsider.


End file.
